AN increasing number of 13,000-TEU ships are calling the Port of New York and New Jersey, while at the same time terminals there are discharging between 2,000 and 3,000 more TEU per call - and more efficiently than a year ago.
Although ships with a capacity of 13,000 TEU or more now carry more than 20 per cent of all containers handled by the port, the marine terminals have handled the resulting increase in cargo discharge volumes smoothly, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, according to IHS Media.
Since June 2018, the 50 largest cargo exchanges in the port have all involved a vessel of 13,000 TEU or larger, and the average cargo exchange on those ships is about 13,000 TEU, said Beth Rooney, deputy director of the port division.
Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) said the average container volume exchanged per call at the terminal in 2019 is 14.2 per cent higher than a year ago.
Rising New York-New Jersey mega ship volumes has unfolded since the opening of the elevated Bayonne Bridge two years ago, which allows vessels of larger than 9,500 TEU to call at four of the port's five main terminals, instead of just one.
Port officials say that fears of congestion and lack of equipment as vessel size increased voiced before the bridge was raised have not been borne out.
In 2017, only 0.9 per cent of the containers that came in and out of the port was carried on a vessel of 13,000 TEU or greater, Ms Rooney said. Last year, 15.9 per cent of the containers were transported on ships of that size, and so far this year, that number has risen to 22.7 per cent, she said.
'Terminals are all handling the increased vessel exchanges without any issues,' Ms Rooney said. 'Large vessel exchanges might use more ship to shore cranes which increases the manpower and yard equipment than are deployed to support the extra cranes. Additional hours of cargo operations may also be needed.'
Chris Garbarino, chief operating officer for PNCT, said that the experience of handling more than 100 vessels of 10,000 TEU or greater has shown that 'it has become increasingly important to increase collaboration and information sharing with carriers to effectively plan operations for large ships.'
Three services from Asia now stop at the port regularly with vessels of 10,000 TEU or more, two from the Ocean Alliance and one from THE Alliance, Ms Rooney said. On May 30, the Triton, a 14,000-TEU vessel that's 168 feet wide and 1,200 feet long, will become the longest and widest vessel ever to pass under the Bayonne Bridge and down the Kill Van Kull, the channel that leads to the terminals, according to the New York Sandy Hook Pilots Association. The Evergreen vessel will call at Maher Terminals, on a route from China through the Panama Canal.
The port handled 6.5 per cent more cargo, 5.01 million loaded TEU, in 2018 compared to 2017, according to PIERS. That outpaced the cargo growth through ports on the east coast, which increased by five per cent, and the US as a whole, which grew by 5.15 per cent, the figures show.
Imports into New York-New Jersey from Asia increased 8.2 per cent in 2018, compared to 7.6 per cent on the east coast and 7.2 per cent for the US as a whole.
Loaded cargo through New York-New Jersey is up 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, according to port authority figures.
WORLD SHIPPING
Although ships with a capacity of 13,000 TEU or more now carry more than 20 per cent of all containers handled by the port, the marine terminals have handled the resulting increase in cargo discharge volumes smoothly, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, according to IHS Media.
Since June 2018, the 50 largest cargo exchanges in the port have all involved a vessel of 13,000 TEU or larger, and the average cargo exchange on those ships is about 13,000 TEU, said Beth Rooney, deputy director of the port division.
Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) said the average container volume exchanged per call at the terminal in 2019 is 14.2 per cent higher than a year ago.
Rising New York-New Jersey mega ship volumes has unfolded since the opening of the elevated Bayonne Bridge two years ago, which allows vessels of larger than 9,500 TEU to call at four of the port's five main terminals, instead of just one.
Port officials say that fears of congestion and lack of equipment as vessel size increased voiced before the bridge was raised have not been borne out.
In 2017, only 0.9 per cent of the containers that came in and out of the port was carried on a vessel of 13,000 TEU or greater, Ms Rooney said. Last year, 15.9 per cent of the containers were transported on ships of that size, and so far this year, that number has risen to 22.7 per cent, she said.
'Terminals are all handling the increased vessel exchanges without any issues,' Ms Rooney said. 'Large vessel exchanges might use more ship to shore cranes which increases the manpower and yard equipment than are deployed to support the extra cranes. Additional hours of cargo operations may also be needed.'
Chris Garbarino, chief operating officer for PNCT, said that the experience of handling more than 100 vessels of 10,000 TEU or greater has shown that 'it has become increasingly important to increase collaboration and information sharing with carriers to effectively plan operations for large ships.'
Three services from Asia now stop at the port regularly with vessels of 10,000 TEU or more, two from the Ocean Alliance and one from THE Alliance, Ms Rooney said. On May 30, the Triton, a 14,000-TEU vessel that's 168 feet wide and 1,200 feet long, will become the longest and widest vessel ever to pass under the Bayonne Bridge and down the Kill Van Kull, the channel that leads to the terminals, according to the New York Sandy Hook Pilots Association. The Evergreen vessel will call at Maher Terminals, on a route from China through the Panama Canal.
The port handled 6.5 per cent more cargo, 5.01 million loaded TEU, in 2018 compared to 2017, according to PIERS. That outpaced the cargo growth through ports on the east coast, which increased by five per cent, and the US as a whole, which grew by 5.15 per cent, the figures show.
Imports into New York-New Jersey from Asia increased 8.2 per cent in 2018, compared to 7.6 per cent on the east coast and 7.2 per cent for the US as a whole.
Loaded cargo through New York-New Jersey is up 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, according to port authority figures.
WORLD SHIPPING